Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition

KCD has a vibrant open world, and better graphics than even the Witcher 3. It's frankly incredible that such as small team managed to achieve this alone, but not only that: KCD has an excellent and lengthy story, and its unique game mechanics make it a very immersive experience. KCD is my second favourite game (only beaten by the Witcher 3). I can't really recommend it more.

If you're here, then do yourself a favour and get this game. It isn't without flaws, it has some bigger and smaller technical problems, some aspects of gameplay/character development could be better, BUT... I have fallen in love with this game the first gameplay fragment I have seen and had huge expectations, still it delivered even more than I've expected. What shows is that developer, Warhorse Studios, really tried to make the best game they could and not only the one which will sell good. It's demanding, realistic (as much as a game can be still being fun to play) and unforgiving in some moments (played on Hardcore), but thanks to this it's immersive like none other. Everything you do in this game is so normal and earthbound, for an early 15-th century, it's so refreshing after all of that world (or even galaxy) saving and fantastic adventures. Medieval vibe just pours out of the screen, characters are memorable, story is engaging and satisfying, dialogues great with a fantastic sense of humour (and not some brash "meme-like, american-style, in-your-face" kind of humour). World, though rather small, is truly beautiful and built with so much love and care: castles, towns and villages but also farmlands, grassy plains, flowery meadows, rivers and streams, all simply wonderful. And forests - the only thing they lack is a scent of a real forest, otherwise they are perfect. I've spent many hours just walking or riding a horse, listening to ambient sounds and music, admiring the views, absorbing the atmosphere. There are just a few games I can call a masterpiece, and Kingdom Come Deliverance is one of them. Not perfect (well, show me one game which is), but truly great where it matters. Without a moment of hesitation I can place it amongst the greatest games I've ever played, right next to first Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate 1&2, Fallout 1&2, Planescape: Torment, BioShock, first Dark Souls, Okami, Borderlands 2 or Dragon Age: Origins.

tl;dr- If you can handle the heavy RPG elements that demand you to manually do everything and handle the bit junkiness in an otherwise beautiful and a massive game, this is a treat. I once heard someone describing Kingdom Come as an "analog game in the digital age", and I think that it's a spot-on description; very little happens automatically, and you have to manually, continually and procedurally perform just about any action- be it wash the player’s cloths that get dirty during travel and influence charisma or learning fighting skills that require actual repetition and training to gradually become effective. In other words, you have to immerse yourself in the role, in this case a medieval plebeian teenager and do what he would do- even the annoying parts. Other than that, it’s a debut game by a new studio, and as such comes with the ruggedness expected in its handling, stability and sometimes even performance. This is not to say that the game is a buggy mess, but that it’s not a super smooth and polished AAA game either. That said, the quantity, quality and presentation of content could fool you to think that this is, in fact, a major studio release.

In-depth video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxau31IPHgo There's no doubt that KC:D is extremely dedicated to historical accuracy. But it should be noted that it's never to the detriment of the gameplay, on the contrary. The many opportunities it takes to give you a guided interactive history tour, it never feels out of place or not engaging. If you like history, play it. If you like medieval history, why haven't you played it already? The combat is also rather special, and it has a high skill ceiling. One of the few games where I felt like it's not just my character's stats that matter, but also my own proficiency with its mechanics. It's got a few janky moments in large battles, but it's visceral, it's meaty, and very enjoyable. It also includes a lot of game mechanics, some are better implemented than others. A few dark spots to mention: terrible performance, very very bad AI, kinda buggy at times. Some words about the DLCs: From the Ashes - A quest to rebuild a settlement. Could've been more in-depth for those interested in a historical perspective of settlement building. A big in-game money-sink with little worthwhile reward since when you can realistically complete it you've got better gear except for the horses. The Amorous Adventures - kinda amusing at times, but a bit short. Worth for the amusing parts, but don't expect something revolutionary. Band of Bastards - combat heavy quest. Sort of interesting characters, but the bad AI really ruins the experience unfortunately. A Woman's Lot - Gives you a dog [kinda buggy, but useful], a quest where you play as a woman [ok written, but not enjoyable to play due to long distances on foot], and an excellent quest-line where you help a woman make sense of her mysterious visions. The last part is hands down the best written quest in the entire game, and makes this DLC 100% worth it.

Take the freedom of Skyrim, combat inspired by Mount & Blade, realism that is often neglected in "AAA games" and proper RPG character growth, combine that with that classic czech sense of humour and you get pretty much this game. Save for the bugs (as of writing this review I've had this game for more than a year, played for 50+ hours on 2 saves and I've yet to finish the game because the very final dialogue just bugged out for me), this is the kind of game that will take it's rightful spot alongside the cult classics of RPGs in a couple years. Just be aware that those pretty graphics do demand pretty specs...